The anniversary of the All-Russian Exhibition of 1896 will be celebrated in Nizhny Novgorod.

      Exhibitions, lectures, light shows, unique exhibits from the collections of leading museums in Russia and even from the collection of the head of the region—Nizhny Novgorod residents and guests of the city can look forward to numerous events dedicated to the anniversary of the famous 16th All-Russian Industrial and Art Exhibition of 1896. The event program for the anniversary was presented today, April 27, at the concert Pakhauss by the Minister of Culture of the Nizhny Novgorod Region, Natalia Sukhanova, and the organizers of museum projects. "The All-Russian Industrial and Art Exhibition is a great event not only for Nizhny Novgorod but for the country as a whole. 130 years ago, Nizhny Novgorod resonated. And it resonated not only at the state level but on a global scale. Such an important historical layer was lost for some time. Even now, people sometimes confuse the phenomenon of an industrial exhibition with a fair. But they are not the same! And it is important for us to tell about this. It is important for our region, for our country," noted the minister. The event program was prepared by representatives of the museum community for more than two years, involving outstanding scholars, historians, local historians, and archivists who painstakingly reconstructed the history of the event that influenced the course of history and culture in the country.

      The first of the events was a recently opened exhibition at the Dmitrievskaya Tower of the Kremlin, dedicated to the 130th anniversary of the historical museum. A special project is the exhibition "The Tram Went Through the Exhibition," which tells about the beginning of Maxim Gorky's work at the newspaper "Nizhny Novgorod Leaf" and the appearance of the first tram in the city. A month ago, it started at the Gorky and Shalyapin Museum in Tatarstan, and in August it will move to the Nizhny Novgorod Gorky Apartment Museum. One of the exhibits will be a model of the tram, presented in honor of the tram's anniversary to the Governor of the Nizhny Novgorod Region, Gleb Nikitin. The tram in Nizhny Novgorod is one of the achievements of the industrial exhibition and continues the main theme of the project.

      Two books dedicated to the exhibition will also be released for the anniversary. These include a reissue of the famous work "The All-Russian Industrial and Art Exhibition of 1896 in Nizhny Novgorod" by Vasily Ivanovich Vinogradov, the first edition of which was published in Moscow at the printing house "Of the Most High Approved T-vo I.D. Sytin" in 1896, and a revised book by the well-known Nizhny Novgorod local historian, candidate of technical sciences, and professor at the UNESCO department of NNGASU, Tatyana Vinogradova, titled "Through the Eyes of an Eyewitness." In it, she collected unique documentary evidence about the exhibition gathered by her ancestor.

      "This is an extraordinarily interesting and important topic. Often, even people who know from central channels say that Shukhov worked at the Nizhny Novgorod Fair. But when the Nizhny Novgorod Fair was being built, Shukhov had not yet been born. And he has no relation to the fair. His projects are completely different constructions. The fair is about sales, possible even in a small space. But the All-Russian exhibition, which showcased locomotives, submarines, machines, required colossal resources; it is something entirely different! It was about industry, public economy, culture, science, and enlightenment. And I would like no one to confuse the exhibition with the fair," explained the local historian.

      One of the events will be the exhibition "Around Impressionism," which opens on April 28 at the Arsenal. For the first time in such volume outside Moscow and St. Petersburg, a collection of new Western art will be presented. This includes more than 30 works of painting and sculpture by leading European masters-innovators from the 1870s to the 1910s. Among them are works by Édouard Manet and Claude Monet, Auguste Rodin and Émile Antoine Bourdelle, Paul Cézanne and Paul Gauguin.

      Alexander Komarov, head of the Volga-Vyatka branch of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, explained that the connection between the Impressionist exhibition and the events of the famous exhibition lies in the fact that it significantly influenced the development of both domestic and global artistic thought. Interestingly, many works by great painters were purchased with the funds earned by entrepreneurs who showcased their productions at the exhibition in Nizhny Novgorod.

      An unusual project will be the reconstruction "Nicholas Theater. Chronicle of Its Birth in City Duma Sessions." It can be seen at the Nizhny Novgorod Drama Theater on May 14, the day before the 130th anniversary of the theater building's opening. On May 15, Glinka's opera "Life for the Tsar" will be performed on its stage, with the role of Susanin played by the 23-year-old Fyodor Shalyapin.

      Also in the event program is a multimedia show "1896. Showcase of the Future." It will be shown on the facade of the Drama Theater on May 14 and will tell about the tours of Savva Mamontov's troupe. A dedicated exhibition "Legendary Tours 1896. Shalyapin and Mamontov's Private Opera in Nizhny Novgorod" will open on May 15 in the foyer of the Pakhauss.

      On May 26, a series of lectures about Maxim Gorky's work at the "Nizhny Novgorod Leaf" will start in the Protected Quarters. Eyewitness accounts of the exhibition will be told all summer long.

      On May 27, the exhibition "Huge Meaning and Significance" will open. The historical museum will tell about the preparation of the famous exhibition and present evidence of its visit by Nicholas II. There, one can see the ceremonial attire of merchant youth who accompanied the tsar's cortege, a collection of majolica donated to the museum by Savva Mamontov, and unique exhibits from the museum's collection.

      "The topic of the exhibition is inexhaustible. Every thinking Russian, and I would add, every foreigner, should have paid attention to it in their time. It showed what a leap Russia made forward," noted Yuri Filippov, the general director of the Nizhny Novgorod Museum-Reserve. "This exhibition demonstrated what distinguishes us from other countries, our national achievements. The exhibition was incredible, all-encompassing. That our museum is a contemporary of this exhibition is, on one hand, very joyful for me, but on the other hand, I regret it very much. If the museum had been established five years earlier, a team of museum workers would have formed there, who would have brought almost everything from this exhibition into the fund that ultimately spread across the country, but we will show everything we have preserved and there will definitely be lectures where we will share everything we have studied over the years," shared the museum director.

      The main event of the project will be the grand exhibition "The Great All-Russian." It will open at the Pakhauss on May 29 and will last until November 4. It will feature authentic historical items that were exhibited at the 1896 exhibition, and the multimedia digital layer of the exhibition will recreate its image. This project involves 25 partners—leading museums of the country, archives, and private collectors. The theater school has prepared a performance—a reading "Talented Letters from Our Special Correspondent from the Nizhny Novgorod Exhibition." Audiences will learn about Gorky's correspondence with the editor of "Odessa News."

      Other events will also be included in the anniversary project, touching on the year 2027—from exhibitions, excursions, and performances to the creation of unusual anniversary dishes in Nizhny Novgorod restaurants.

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      Olga Sevryugina Photo: Olga Sevryugina